Comparative analysis of antibiotic resistance: Immunofluorescent colony staining, and a transgenic marker (bioluminescence) for monitoring the environmental fate of a rhizobacterium

Field releases of the mild-type plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens 89B-27, its bioluminescent derivative GEM-8 (89B-27::Tn4431), and a spontaneous rifampin-resistant variant (R34) were established on cucumber in 1994 and 1995 to examine the efficiency of these marker systems for estimating the wild-type population, Seed and root samples were taken 0, 7, 14, 21 or 28, 35 or 42, and 70 days after planting in each year and processed for enumeration by spiral plating or immunofluorescent colony staining (IFC), In both Sears, the populations of 89B-27. R34, and GEM-8, as measured by IFC, were not significantly different (P > 0.05) from each other at each sampling time, However, the populations of R34 and GEM-8, as measured by spiral plating and differentiation based on their respective phenotypes, were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the wild-type populations and their IFC-determined populations, These data indicate that traditional marker systems may underestimate populations and hence the survival and colonization of genetically marked bacteria.